


One Call Away

by OutoftheBlueDreamer



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Booker | Sebastien le Livre Whump, Booker | Sebastien le Livre is Part of the Team, Booker | Sebastien le Livre is a Dad, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt Booker | Sebastien le Livre, what Booker did in exile
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:41:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29096679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutoftheBlueDreamer/pseuds/OutoftheBlueDreamer
Summary: After rejoining the team from a shortened exile, Booker's family is back together again. However, when he starts getting monthly phone calls to a burner phone, the others are wary of the secrets he seems to be hiding from them.Alternatively: Booker spends his time in exile wisely, doing wholesome stuff that he doesn't want the team to tease him for.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Everyone, Booker | Sebastien le Livre & Nile Freeman
Comments: 11
Kudos: 115





	One Call Away

It had been almost a year since the rest of the family invited Booker back into the mix. Things were beginning to feel normal again and Booker had finally started to relax around the others instead of walking on eggshells. It was nice to fall back into the familiarity of his old routine.

The best part of being back was definitely Nicky’s cooking though. Booker could fend for himself when he had to, without a doubt, but nothing compared to the countless recipes Nicky had stored in the back of his head. It was all Booker could do to keep from drooling as he set the table while the smell of carbonara wafted through the air.

Once they all were seated, everyone filled their plates and started to dig in. Booker had only had two bites when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. With a sigh he put down his fork and reached for his pocket, ready to tell Copley that this wasn’t the ideal time. But then he realized that no, his burner for Copley was on the coffee table in the next room over. He quickly fumbled to pull out his other phone and sighed when he saw the area code.

“Shit, sorry guys, I’ve gotta take this one,” he said as he stood abruptly and headed for the door that led to the patio. He didn’t have to look back to know that there were five sets of eyes staring at him even as he disappeared from sight.

\--------------------------------------------

Nile broke the silence first, glancing between the others still seated at the table. “Question: if we’re all here, who could he be talking to?” She asked no one in particular before having another bite of pasta.

“Copley?” Nicky suggested with a shrug before looking to the other three for ideas. Quynh shrugged, but Andy was shaking her head. “I spoke to Copley this morning, he shouldn’t need anything else.”

Joe frowned. He thought that Booker had moved past keeping secrets from them. He thought that they were making progress in regaining each others’ trust, but the idea that Booker was talking to outsiders without telling them about it beforehand set Joe on edge. He hesitated for a moment, worrying at his bottom lip, before heaving a sigh and getting up from the table, following Booker’s path to the patio.

He stayed quiet as he approached where Booker was sitting on the worn down bench overlooking the yard. Unsurprisingly, he was also taking the phone call as an opportunity to have a smoke, far away from where Nile could lecture him about how unhealthy and “gross” it was.

“I will have the money wired tonight, _mon petit chou_ ,” Booker said into the phone and Joe froze. Who was Booker paying off? Was he in some sort of debt? Joe held in a groan. The last thing they needed was for Booker’s gambling tendencies to catch up with them.

“Alright,” he heard Booker say. “Get some sleep. And stay out of trouble, do you hear me? Okay. _Je t’aime_ ,” he murmured softly as he hung up the phone. Joe watched as he set down the phone and took another drag from his cigarette.

“Je t’aime? Sounds like things are getting serious, Book. Who is the lucky lady?” Joe grinned as he leaned over the bench, resting his elbows on the back of it, mere inches from Booker’s shoulders.

“Jesus christ!” Booker exclaimed as he almost jumped out of his skin. Joe chuckled as he rounded the end of the bench and sat down next to him.

“Actually, Joseph, but you’re pretty close,” Joe said with a grin and a wink, only to be met by a rough shove to his shoulder.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, Yusuf,” Booker muttered as he ground out the end of his cigarette.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping! I was just coming to check that everything was okay,” Joe said. It was only a partial lie, and one that he knew Booker saw through immediately, judging by the snort he gave.

“You mean you came to check up on me to make sure I wasn’t causing any more trouble,” Booker said with a tight smile that was more of a grimace than anything.

“Well? Were you causing any more trouble?” Joe arched an eyebrow and watched him curiously, trying to figure out exactly what Booker could have been up to.

Booker let out a breath of a laugh as he shook his head. “ _Non_. Just doing a favor for a friend.”

“What kind of favor? And more importantly, for what friend?” Joe pressed. He hoped that he could trust Booker’s judgement at this point, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t uneasy at the prospect of Booker promising anything to anyone outside of their family.

Booker sighed and stared at the ground awhile before turning to glance up at Joe. “You aren’t gonna let me go back inside until I tell you, are you?”

“Nope!” Joe grinned and elbowed him lightly. “Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? You’re catching on quickly now.”

Booker rolled his eyes and shook his head again, clearly not nearly as amused as Joe was. “It was this kid that lived in my building while I was in Barcelona. They just need to borrow some money to pay rent this month. Don’t worry, Copley’s got the phone covered so it can’t be tracked.”

Joe’s expression softened as Booker explained and he felt like he was looking at the younger man in a completely new light. Maybe Booker had spent some of his exile working to be a better person all around. Obviously he had worked on himself a lot, that much was clear over the past year, but Joe hadn’t really considered what exactly Booker did with all of his time. He just couldn’t picture him settling enough to have relationships with his neighbors for a start.

Joe clapped him on the shoulder and nodded. “Alright then. We should get back inside before Nicky starts clearing the table if you want to eat any more dinner.”

Booker side-eyed him for a moment as though he didn’t believe that Joe was just going to accept his answer. So Joe stood and offered him a hand up, which Booker happily took and then proceeded to follow Joe back inside.

\---------------------------------------------

That night as they were getting ready for bed, Booker could feel Nile’s eyes on him the entire time. They had become permanent roommates whenever there were enough bedrooms to pair off, since Joe and Nicky shared a bed as did Andy and Quynh.

“There something on your mind, Nile?” He finally asked with a sigh as he pulled off his shirt to change into pajamas. She was practically buzzing when he turned around and met her gaze.

“Who was it? On the phone, at dinner? Joe wouldn’t give a straight answer,” she said, watching him with those wide, curious eyes.

He had a feeling this line of questioning was coming. There was no keeping anything from Nile, although he was pretty impressed that he had made it this far without her knowing what he was up to over the years.

“If I tell you, will you promise to keep this between us?” He glanced at her wearily and was met with a look that could only mean “Seriously?”

He rolled his eyes and continued getting dressed. “While I was...away, things got boring pretty quickly. Life was too quiet and dull and I’ve never learned how to just cook for one person before. So when the organization I was volunteering with mentioned that they were in need of more foster homes for kids in the system…” He trailed off and shrugged, ignoring the way his cheeks and ears were burning.

“Wait. Hold up.” Nile stared at him for a moment before cracking a grin. “You were a foster parent? That’s what you were doing with your time?” She let out a little laugh. “Oh my god that makes so much more sense now. With all the chatter in the background I just kinda figured you were at a bar or something whenever I called.”

Booker shot her a look that made her freeze and immediately backpedal. “Which, I now know you weren’t, because you are very much sober now. However, in my defense, I had not known that at the time,” she corrected.

“Uh huh, sure,” Booker hummed and smirked slightly, just to make sure she knew he wasn’t actually that upset by the jab.

“So, wait,” Nile sat up more on her bed, watching him with a grin. “So does that mean it was one of your…”

“Yes, it was one of my kids on the phone. No, Joe does not know that and I’d prefer to keep it that way,” Booker said with a sigh.

“Then what did you tell Joe?”

“I just said it was a kid from my building that needed help making rent this month. It wasn’t a complete lie,” he defended.

“Uh huh, sure,” Nile said, looking entirely unimpressed. “So how many little Bookers are there running around now? Do they all have your phone number? What on earth do they think you do for a living?”

“If I answer those three questions, will you let me go to bed?”

“For now.”

“Fair enough,” Booker sighed. “There are ten of them, granted a few of them weren’t with me very long. Yes, they all have my phone number. And they think I am a historian that travels to archaeological dig sites.”

“Ten?” Nile’s eyes widened and she threw a pillow at him. Booker caught it with ease and lightly tossed it back.

“Yes, that is what I said.”

“And you just weren't going to tell any of us? Come on, Book!”

“I knew it would come up eventually! I just didn’t think this soon,” he admitted with a shrug. “Besides, they should all be well taken care of by now so I don’t imagine I’ll be getting too many calls.” If only he knew just how wrong he was.

\-----------------------------------------

As time went on, the rest of the team learned the tell-tale ringtone of Booker’s phone, and they learned that he never let it go to voicemail. It was odd how attentive he was, but Nile reassured them that the calls were harmless, and they couldn’t find it in them to argue with her after seeing how happy Booker was everytime he got off the phone. 

The calls came every few weeks, no more than twice a month it seemed. Sometimes Booker returned to them looking exhausted, yet relieved and other times he seemed downright giddy. Once, he even got a text and promptly went and spent an hour in his room, seemingly silent. But afterwards he returned almost rejuvenated. It was strange to see such a transformation from the reserved, depressed Booker they had left behind in London some 30 years or so ago. But it was a good change, and who were they to question his happiness.

\------------------------------------------

The first time the team heard from one of Booker’s kids was right at the end of a mission, one that had gone incredibly far south, very quickly. They were in Syria, which was enough to set all of them on edge. There were too many variables in active war zones in the modern day, which made their jobs that much more difficult.

They were supposed to be retrieving intel that would implicate a number of defense contractors in smuggling drugs and weapons across international borders. What they didn’t expect was to find high-ranking military officials that were in on the plans as well. Joe and Booker were almost to the target when Nicky came in over the comms.

“Something’s not right,” Nicky said, anxiety lacing his voice. Joe and Booker pulled up short and waited in an alleyway.

“What do you mean by that?” Joe asked under his breath.

“Something’s...off,” Nicky supplied and sighed in frustration. There was rustling over the comms as Nicky rearranged his equipment.

“There’s too many people in the building,” he added quickly and there was more rustling. Booker eyed Joe carefully. He had a bad feeling about this, but it wasn’t his call to make.

After a moment, Nicky spoke up again. “Get back to the truck.”

“What?” Joe asked with a frown. “Why, what’s happening?”

“We aren’t the only ones here. I just spotted another sniper setting up the next building over. Someone else is already planning this ambush. We need to get out of here. Now.”

There was a chorus of cursing over the comms as they all started circling back towards their rendezvous point. Booker could hear Nile helping Nicky pack up as quickly and quietly as they could and all he could do was pray that the other sniper didn’t see them before they could get off the roof. He and Joe had made it half way back before they were met with any opposition.

Joe disposed of the first of the assailants quietly enough, but the two of them weren’t quick enough to kill the others before the gunfire started. Booker happily returned fire now that he knew he wouldn’t be giving away their position any more than their opponents already had. He and Joe picked up their pace as they heard shouts coming from behind them. They turned a corner and Booker stopped short, leaning back around the corner and mowing down another group of attackers who had been gaining on them.

Once they were down, Booker turned back around and sprinted after Joe, hoping he had bought them enough time to make a clean getaway. As he turned another corner he could see Nicky and Nile a few blocks ahead of them and Booker relaxed barely. They were almost there. But in the dark of the night, he didn’t notice the disruption in the dirt alongside the road and was therefore unprepared for the explosion that followed one of his heavy footfalls.

When he started to come to again, the first thing he registered was the pain. Everything felt like it was on fire. He vaguely registered that his head was moving and god it was making him nauseous. As graciously cool as the hands on his face were, he needed them to stop or he was going to be sick and die all over again. Finally he was able to crack his eyes open a slit, only to be greeted by Joe’s eyes searching his face for consciousness.

“Are you back with me, Basti?” Joe asked urgently. And Booker tried his best to answer but everything was still so fuzzy. He tried to speak but only coughed, tasting blood wetting his mouth. That was less than ideal. He was just able to shake his head before his vision went black again.

The next time Booker came back, he became acutely aware that he was being moved. Based on height alone, he could tell that Joe and Nicky were supporting him as they made their way back to the truck. He tightened his grip around their shoulders and opened his eyes to find them blessedly only a few yards away from where Nile stood, holding the back door open.

“Welcome back, Book. You have a nice rest?” Joe muttered to him. Booker gave a breathless laugh that was cut off by a groan. He glanced down and realized exactly why he was still in so much pain. The majority of his left leg was nowhere to be seen and his right was still expelling shrapnel as it tried to heal.

“In my defense,” Booker said quietly. “I almost made it to a hundred years since I last tripped a bomb.”

Joe snorted and rolled his eyes and Booker was able to crack a small grin. With his and Nicky’s help, they got Booker into the truck and propped up in the middle seat. Nicky slid in behind him and closed the door before looping his arms around Booker’s chest and pulling him back into his lap. Shortly after, Joe hopped in the other side and followed Nicky’s lead, pulling Booker’s mostly healed leg up onto his lap and wrapping what was there of his left leg in a towel to rest on top of a duffel bag on the ground. Before Booker could even say thank you, Andy tore out of the village at a record speed.

The business of regrowing limbs was a painful one, and unfortunately it was one with which Booker was familiar. The pain came in waves as his body worked to repair bone and muscle where there was none to be found. He found one of his hands clutching Nicky’s and the other clutching Joe’s as he rode out the pain in barely muffled gasps and cries. At one point he registered Nicky’s free hand in his hair, stroking it back as he murmured soothing words that Booker could barely hear.

At some point not long after that, Booker passed out again, physically and mentally exhausted from the trauma his body was going through. When he awoke again it was to the sound of a heated, whispered argument and a very familiar chime that kept repeating. He opened his bleary eyes and looked around before weakly gesturing to his duffel bag at Joe’s feet.

“Can someone get that?” He said above the debate going on around him and everyone froze. Nicky glanced down at him and hesitated before he spoke. “Come on, Sebastien, you need to rest. Whoever it is can wait until you’re feeling better.”

Booker just shook his head and moved to sit up a little straighter, pausing when it caused his head to swim. “Uh-uh, I gotta answer it. I promised,” he managed out but was honestly out of breath from the effort. He watched as the other three exchanged a look and he sighed.

“Fine. Joe, would you mind answering it for me?” He asked a bit desperately and met his eyes. Clearly Joe could tell that Booker wasn’t going to let it go because he nodded and immediately began rummaging through Booker’s bag of clothes in search of his phone. He flipped it open on what must have been the last ring.

“Hello?” Joe asked and they all waited with bated breath. “Oh, um, Booker has his hands full at the moment,” Joe said while glancing over to Booker with a slightly panicked expression.

“Say you’re my brother. And ask who it is,” Booker prompted as he reluctantly slumped back into Nicky’s embrace. He could feel that his leg had made tremendous progress since he was last awake, but he still had an ankle and foot to go and joints like that were always a bitch.

“Yeah, sorry, this is his brother, Joe. Who is this?” He could hear Joe saying into the phone and he waited patiently for the response to be relayed.

Joe covered the receiver with his hand as he spoke to Booker. “She said it’s JC? Does that make sense?”

Booker sighed and nodded. “Ask _him_ if it’s an emergency.” Joe at least had the decency to offer an embarrassed smile and mouth a quick ‘sorry’ before relaying the question back over the phone. He tensed when he saw Joe frown and nod. At that moment, Booker made an executive decision.

“Put it on speakerphone.” He could feel the way Nile was watching him, as though he himself was a ticking time bomb, but at this point he did not care what the others did or didn’t know, all he cared about was that his son was okay.

“One sec,” Joe mumbled into the phone before fumbling with it for a moment and then holding it out closer to Booker.

“What’s going on, _mon fils_? What happened? Are you alright?” The questions rushed out of him all at once as panic rose in his throat. There was a pause and they all held their breath until a voice came through the speaker.

“Dad? I’m fine, I promise. Why didn’t you answer? You’ve never had anyone else answer.”

Booker let out a sigh of relief that JC sounded alright. He pointedly ignored the stares from the others as those could be dealt with later.

“I couldn’t reach the phone in time. But that’s not important, you said there was an emergency, what’s going on?” Booker pressed, hoping to quell the anxious pit in his stomach. He felt a wave of pain welling up inside him and he grabbed onto Nicky’s arm hard enough to bruise and gritted his teeth until it faded.

“I think I blew a fuse. I went to plug in the coffee maker but I put it in the same outlet as the toaster even though Josh told me not to and then there was a popping sound and all the lights shut off and won’t turn back on again and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Booker’s face pinched and he bit his lip as he tried to maintain his composure. He pulled himself upright and took the phone from Joe who was now glancing between him and Nicky quizzically.

“Jean Claude le Livre, what have I told you about what counts as an emergency?” He fought to keep his tone steady and not yell, but dear God would he be justified to just scream right now. There was a pause from the other end of the line.

“It’s only an emergency if I’m hurt or in immediate danger,” JC replied in a small voice, his tone monotonous as if reciting a rulebook.

“So let me ask you again, is this an emergency?”

“No… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Booker sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Just use your head next time, yes?”

“I will. Sorry if I was interrupting something.” God, he sounded exactly like the time he was sent to the principal’s office for getting in a fight at school. 

“ _Non_.” Booker shook his head barely. “I’m just glad you are alright.” He paused for a moment before adding on, “call your brother, he can help you fix the lights.”

“Which one?”

“Rory’s probably your best choice for that one. He should still be up. Why don’t you give him a call and I will touch base with you tomorrow, _ça va_?”

“Yeah, alright,” JC murmured. There was a pause before he spoke again in a quick rush. “ _Je t’aime, papa_.”

“ _Je t’aime, mon fils_ ,” Booker replied before hanging up the phone. As soon as the phone closed he groaned and sunk back into Nicky again, this time twisting to hide his face in Nicky’s shirt. “I’m going to kill him,” he muttered half-heartedly into the soft fabric.

“That would be a shame, he seemed sweet,” Nicky replied and softly rubbed Booker’s back.

“So, _papa_ , would you like to tell us what that was about?” He could practically hear the shit-eating grin on Joe’s face. If he had to guess, Andy was probably sporting a matching one at this rate but at least she was holding off her verbal assault until later.

Booker sighed and glanced over his shoulder. “Nile can tell you.” And exactly as planned, Joe whipped around on Nile faster than Booker had ever seen him move.

“Nile? No,” Joe gasped as his eyes narrowed. “Don’t even tell me you knew about this!” He threw a hand to his heart in dramatic flair. “You wound me.”

Nile started cracking up and her joy was contagious. Shortly after, they all joined in and even Booker chuckled. “What can I say, Roommates Bill of Rights, Nile gets to hear it all first,” Booker teased and sat up more so he was no longer crushing Nicky against the door.

“Why don’t we have that?” Joe said, looking to Nicky in bewilderment, to which Nicky started laughing as well.

“Because we’ve already been telling each other everything for a millenia, amore mio,” Nicky reminded him.

“Okay, I’ll allow it. But you’re on thin fucking ice le Livre, you hear me?” Joe emphasized his point by poking Booker’s leg.

“Right, next time I’m living alone and open my house to foster kids, you’ll be the first one to know, I promise,” Booker said with a grin and gave Joe a light shove.

“Is that what you did?” Joe asked as his eyes widened and his grin grew. “Who knew our Booker was such a softie after all.”

“Shut up,” Booker muttered as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, trying his best to ignore the heat rising to his cheeks.

“So,” Nicky said, giving Booker a nudge. “How many nieces and nephews do we have out there now? I imagine it’s more than just the two, no?”

Booker rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. “Overall I looked after ten kids, but a couple of them weren’t there very long so, I dunno, eight I guess?”

“Do they all use your name? I can only imagine how thrilled Copley must be,” Joe said and smirked at the thought.

“No, thank god. Just JC, River, and Brianna. The rest were adopted and took on their new families’ names,” Booker replied and almost gave a sigh of relief when he saw the safe house come into view. He could really use a shower, and more importantly, a nap.

“So do we get to know more about them, or was this a one-off thing?” Joe asked as Andy parked.

Booker hadn’t even considered that. He didn’t want to complicate anyone else’s life, but at the same time, he didn’t feel like hiding any parts of his own either.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” Booker replied and Joe nodded in understanding. They all piled out of the truck and Booker could feel the others’ eyes on him as he stood gingerly on his freshly healed leg and started towards the front door right behind Andy. He gave thanks to whatever god was out there for not letting him collapse in the driveway.

“Alright, Book gets the first shower,” Andy announced as they all made their way inside. “Mainly so he doesn’t pass out and get blood on everything again.” Booker rolled his eyes and cracked a tired smile before just heading straight upstairs to the shower as instructed. He risked a glance back at the others when he reached the bottom of the stairs and he found himself smiling even wider as he took in the sight of all of them huddled in the kitchen, sipping on tea and coffee that Quynh had prepared while they were out.

And he knew in his heart that if anything were to happen to him, his kids would have one hell of a family looking out for them, now and forever.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr @transeliot


End file.
